deaffriendly News

You know what a cost-benefit analysis is. You have your accountant’s telephone number on speed-dial. You even know how to expertly run a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter. But, do you know what it means to be a deaf-friendly business?

Dear fans and followers, Pssst! Have you noticed what happened to our website? After months of scheming, debugging and tinkering, we've updated our website … and our brand! We’re now deaffriendly.com and we are open for reviews, nationwide.

Do you have less-than-“perfect” hearing? Then, somewhere along your journey in this hearing-centric world, you may have received comments like these: “You’re so inspirational to live with this disability. I can't imagine how I would do it.” Or “You’re deaf? Goodness, you seem to be doing so well in spite of it.”

Quiet as a mouse. Quiet a sepulchre. Quiet as at anchor in a deaf calm. These are the various analogies that many people may use to describe Deaf people – and their parties. Sometimes this is true – such as at more formal events, daytime picnics, and “voice-off” Deaf Jams. But while poetic, these analogies are, at times, far from the truth.

After two years of cherry-picking cities that are the cream de la crème of the #deaffriendly crop, we’re going the whole nine yards. That’s right: Soon, no matter where you live in the Star-Spangled United States of America, you can write your #deaffriendly or #deafchallenged reviews.

Do you know the people who are plugging in reviews on deafREVIEW? Every quarter, we pick the brains of our most active reviewers. They are the words behind our deaf-friendly mission, the stars of our 1-5 star ratings, and the souls of this website.

The price was right, indeed, for deaf contestant Kristine Hall. On October 19, 2009, Hall became the first deaf contestant on the CBS show “The Price Is Right”. A longtime deaf fan of the game show, her victory prizes (bicycles, mattress, bedroom set, and a thousand bucks); she also won a victory of accommodations.

What’s the flip side of the stereotype thatall deaf people are poor and abuse government assistance? That while deaf people can’t hear the Ka-ching of a cash register, they can see status symbols … and that they date or marry out of motivation to attain wealth or score a “good provider”.

The mural-streaked, gritty Mission District is a neighborhood that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ pizza-obsessed Michaelangelo would have happily – and hungrily -- prowled. He may not have had use for its tattoo parlors nor vegan bakeries, but the plethora of Italian joints?